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From Sketch to Screen: K-Dramas Based on Webtoons!

By Alexa Manery

Ever finish a drama and slip into the worst of slumps? You’re sad because it’s over, it’s the last time you’ll get to see those characters interacting, and that realization just stomps all over your heart. Don’t worry, not all dramas end with the last episode. In some cases, the characters originated, and live on, in the world of the webtoon! You can go back and read about your favorite character’s antics all over again.

Cheese in the Trap premiered in 2016 on tvN, and garnered quite a bit of success. It starred Park Hae-Jin (Man to Man), Kim Go-Eun (Goblin), and Seo Kang-Joon (Are You Human?). The show was popular amongst fans of the webtoon, as well as incoming viewers who tuned in week after week to watch the budding romance between Yoo-Jung (Park Haejin), and Hong Seol (Kim Go-Eun). The webtoon was originally published on Naver Webtoon in 2010, and was illustrated by an artist named Soonkki. It ran for seven years, with the last chapter being posted in 2017. A hard copy of the series began printing in 2014, and over time collected a total of fifteen volumes. But you don’t have to purchase Cheese in the Trap in order to read it because it can be found on Line Webtoon for free!

This drama is the only one on the list that holds three different adaptations! What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim starred Park Seo-Joon (Fight For My Way) and Park Min-Young (Her Private Life) as the conceited boss who fell in love with his adorable secretary. The drama was originally a novel of the same title written by Jung Kyung-Yoon and published in 2013. Two years later, it was serialized into a webtoon by Kakao to be put onto the site TappyToon. The webtoon ran for ninety-eight episodes, and in 2018, the K-drama made its debut on tvN as the newest version of this beloved series.

Clean With Passion For Now

The most recently released drama on this list, Clean with Passion For Now, aired on JTBC from November 2018 to February 2019, starring Kim Yoo-Jung (Moonlight Drawn by Clouds) as the messy female lead and Yoon Kyung Sang (Doctors) as our germaphobe male lead. It originated from a webtoon with the same title by Aengo that was first published by Kakao in 2013, and two years later, was published by Comico Korea. The series came to a conclusion in 2015 after having over 130 chapters posted!

Sweet Stranger and Me

Sweet Stranger and Me was based on the webtoon The Man Living In Our House by Yoo Hyun-Sook. It aired on KBS2 in 2016; and starred Soo Ae (Mask), Lee Soo-Hyuk (Lucky Romance), and Kim Young Kwang (Love At First Sight) as the leads. The webtoon was released in 2015, finding a home at Spottoon where it ran for sixty chapters before reaching the series end.

Lucky Romance was a 2016 MBC drama that starred Ryu Jun-Yeol (Reply 1988) and Hwang Jung-Eum (The Undateables). Its webtoon counterpart was written by Dallim Kim, and was published by Naver in 2014. It’s the shortest webtoon series on this list, ending in 2017 after forty-one installments. The webtoon resides on Line Webtoon for international viewers to also enjoy!

Knowing that not all dramas end with their final episode will hopefully give you some comfort! For which of these dramas are you most excited to start the webtoon?